


Food for Thought

by AmazonX



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Kidnapping, Malnutrition, Sick Steve, food allergies to the max, general sneakiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-01
Updated: 2014-05-01
Packaged: 2018-01-21 10:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1548242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmazonX/pseuds/AmazonX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve isn't adjusting to the 21st century as well as most people think. A lot of things are different, especially the food.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Food for Thought

**Author's Note:**

> I heard things on Tumblr about people writing about Steve not liking modern food, but imagine him not being able to stomach any of it. What do you do then? Modern food doesn't stay down. 
> 
> Thank you to my faithful beta, Emyrldlady, who is an awesome writer on her own! She's on here, too, go read her. Kudos and Comments are nice things, loves! Enjoy!

The stench of food wafted through the large cafeteria of Stark Tower. Steve did his best to ignore it, but every time he had to go down to the security console room, he had to pass it. He couldn’t stand all the cooking smells from restaurants or street carts, either. Everything made him sick and he was starting to lose weight because of it.

Oh, he had learned some tricks so that no one could tell, like fuller fitting clothing, and to fill out his uniform, he wore layers underneath. It overheated him, which was exhausting, and it was making the other team members suspicious. But he couldn’t worry about that. He needed to concentrate on functioning day to day, working with SHIELD and the Avengers, and it was getting more and more difficult. In the quantities of food he needed, he couldn’t get enough into him that would stay down. Somewhere in the back of his head, he was certain that he was starving. Fresh fruit and vegetables, the ones he could find that weren’t chemically treated, could only take him so far.

The biggest problem was having moved into the Avengers’ Tower. Sitting smack in the middle of Manhattan, the stupid thing was surrounded by small delicatessens, or restaurants catering to the rich financial businesses in the area, or fast food establishments for the lunch crowd of workers and tourists. There wasn’t a big supermarket, like he’d heard about on the internet. Nor could he find one of these elusive “green markets” that had organic food, whatever that was. He didn’t have time to look things up. Domestic and world security was taking up more and more of his time than he thought they would.

When he wasn’t being Captain America at some fund raising dinner for the Maria Stark Foundation, or going to a security council meeting for SHIELD, or handling some insane alien crisis, or just a bunch of crazy scientists that wanted to take down the world, he just wanted to sit down with a bowl of chicken stew the way his mother made it. Or even just a bowl of soup. But everything was over-seasoned, too salty, pre-treated with antibiotics, or just plain terrible tasting.

“Hey, Cap, you OK?” came the voice from behind him. He stopped, took a deep breath to get himself together then turned, putting on his best USO smile.

“Darcy, nice to see you. Yes, I was on my way to security. They let you out of the lab?” he said, trying to look casual by slipping his hand into his pocket, but more to hide the shaking.

“Yeah, lunch time. Thought I’d get some chow. Jane needs a break, too. You want to come up and sit with us for lunch? You look like you could use some company.”

Steve knew Darcy watched out for everyone on the team, having adopted them all as her little ducklings she needed to lead around. She took the role of assistant very seriously, deciding her political science degree was useful when she could be the liaison and attaché to the Avengers, first by getting their house straight, then their lives, then the world! At least, that’s the way Steve saw it.

“Thanks, I have a ton of stuff to do. Maybe later,” he said, turning and continuing onto the console room of the security office.

*-*-*-*

Darcy stood and watched as Steve walked away, a little wobbly if she was going to describe it. Maybe he’d had a bad workout. But wasn’t Thor just saying he hadn’t seen Steve in the gym for several days, which wasn’t like him at all. Steve usually had energy to burn, always had rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes, as was the legend. This Steve Rogers was vastly different. His eyes were dull with dark bruises underneath, his skin was pale, and almost looked a bit grayish, and he was shaky. Maybe she’d check in with Bruce about him a little later.

She got her previously requested lunch order from Barrie, the awesome sous chef in the kitchen. The woman was amazing and she knew just how Jane and Darcy liked their veggie burgers. She went back to the lab and found the speak-of-the-devil-Steve standing at Bruce’s lab table, talking to the man while Bruce typed away on a Stark notebook. She set the two food containers down and handed Jane her lunch.

“Thank you, I’m starved. I’m so happy the bifrost is regrown, it makes it so much easier for me to track the other bridge openings. And Heimdall is a darling for sending me these messages.”

Since Thor had returned, Jane and Darcy moved with him to New York into Stark Tower to work on further understanding the way the bifrost and Yggdrasill, the tree of life, kept things in constant harmony. If it was magical science, Jane wanted to know it. She’d also come out of her science haze, where she stopped eating, sleeping and washing. She had reasons to keep herself in better condition nowadays.

Darcy flipped open the cardboard container and started pouring ketchup into the lid for dipping her fries when the sound of coughing and retching came from behind her. Was that Bruce or…

“Hey, Steve, are you OK?” came the cry from Bruce.

Darcy spun to see Steve had made his way a few feet from the table and was on his hands and knees, dry-heaving on the floor. He didn’t have enough in his stomach for anything to make its way up. After a moment, he fell to the side, and his eyes drifted closed. Darcy landed beside him and pressed a hand to his cheek. She could hear Jane on the phone with security to get a med team to the lab and Bruce was pulling a medical bag from his desk drawer as well as asking JARVIS to scan Steve for specific symptoms.

“Oh, God, is he going to be OK?” Darcy asked. She had tried to be as good a friend to all the Avengers as she possibly could, but there was a special connection she felt to Steve. It helped that he was so easy on the eyes, and he was the sweetest, kindest, most gentle man in the world.

Bruce was pressing the wireless electrodes to Steve’s face and neck before unbuttoning his shirt to put them on his chest. He found another shirt under it, and another shirt under that.

“What the hell…” A pair of shears were held in front of Bruce, from a quick-thinking Jane, and Bruce began cutting up through the layers of clothing. “Oh, God, Steve…”

When the multiple shirts were spread apart, the sight that greeted them was not what they were expecting at all. It was as if Steve had gone back in time to when he was pre-serum. His collar bones and ribs were all prominent against his creamy, pale skin. All Darcy could think that his pink nipples were so pale she could barely find them against the rest of his skin.

Thankfully, she was ushered out of the way by Jane when the med team arrived, followed by Coulson and Sitwell. The med techs loaded him on a gurney and ushered him out of the lab and down to the dispensary to evaluate him. Bruce went with them, followed closely Coulson. Sitwell stayed behind and began questioning Darcy and Jane about what happened.

“Well, I didn’t see anything,” Jane began. “Darcy had just come up with our lunch.”

“Did you see anything, Miss Lewis?” he asked, all business. Darcy looked him in the eye, her platform wedge boots helping her height, and couldn’t get the memory of him passed out in the dive bar where all the SHIELD agents drank in New Mexico. The crew had stayed behind to counsel the locals, help rebuild the town and take down their base. Darcy loved drinking the man under the table, then posting pictures of Clint carrying a passed-out Sitwell on Facebook. It was the first time Fury had yelled at her, and certainly not the last.

“No, Jasper, all I heard was him gagging on the floor and I turned to see him try and upchuck, then pass right out. I saw him earlier, down by the caf, near security, and he looked a little shaky, a little pale gray.”

“And you didn’t tell anyone?” he said, almost exasperated.

“I’m not his keeper, I’m Jane’s! If he needs one, buy him one!”

Sitwell stepped back and let Darcy calm down a moment, because she was screaming.

“Miss Lewis, we just want to find out as much information as possible…” Sitwell stopped and put his hand to his ear.

“They’ve figured it out. Come, ladies, I think you should be there for this.”

Darcy looked at Jane, who shrugged. Darcy wasn’t sure why SHIELD would allow civilians to see what was going on with Captain America, but if Sitwell was offering, she wasn’t going to turn it down. They got in an elevator and ascended to the private Avengers dispensary and recuperation suites. Steve was laid out in a bed, clothed in a plain pastel green gown, both arms stuck with tubes of fluid flowing in from bags hung above the bed. They weren’t allowed into the room, but could look from the outer area through the large window.

“Captain Rogers is suffering from acute malnutrition,” Coulson began. “He hasn’t been honest with us, about nausea when it comes to modern food. One would think that the serum would keep him from being ill about anything, but it’s not the food itself. He says it’s the smell and the taste. They make him sick. He can smell the chemicals. Something will need to be done.”

Darcy covered her mouth with her hands. She couldn’t bear to think of life without Poptarts and diet Dr. Pepper. But there were some people who lived without that stuff. She came from a place where there were people who lived simply. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea for some people, even for her people.

“Jane, stay here, keep an eye on him, please?” she asked. She’s confessed to Jane about her crush on the Captain, so Jane knew what this meant to Darcy. “Text me if anything happens. I have an idea about this, but I need to go to the common floor to do it.”

*-*-*-*

Darcy turned and sprinted to the elevator where she squirmed and elbowed her way through a worried pack of Avengers rushing to Steve’s room.

“Little Bit, where you going?” called Clint.

“To call my gran!” she shouted as the doors closed. She fidgeted the entire way to the common floor and sprinted into the kitchen. She began looking in the cabinets at all the different ingredients she had on hand and found herself woefully lacking. Her hand came to her mouth, tapping at her lips as her grandmother did when she was thinking. Then it hit her.

“JARVIS, would you please have a couple of the lab interns sent up here? ASAP, please.”

“Of course, Miss Lewis.” As she was waiting for the interns, she hit her grandmother’s phone number in her phone. It only rang once before she heard the familiar voice of her beloved childhood.

“Doodlebug, it’s so good of you to call!” Darcy set the phone down on the counter, speakerphone setting engaged.

“Hey, Gran, can you email me your biscuit recipe, please? I have to make them up quick for someone.”

“Darcy, you know my biscuits take some time. You can use the quick roll mix…”

“No, Gran, I need the Amish one. Your Gran’s recipe. Please, it’s important.”

Darcy had been pulling cooking utensils out of cabinets and was trying to wrestle the large mixer from its shelf when she felt rather than saw someone behind her. Of course, the man standing behind her wanted Darcy to know he was there. If he didn’t, she wouldn’t.

“Little Bit, what’s going on?” he asked, quietly.

“Gran, this is Clint Barton. Barton, that’s my Gran, Hannah Mueller. She’s my mom’s Mom. And she used to be Amish.”

“Pleased to speak with you, ma’am,” he said, still watching Darcy’s mad dash around the kitchen.

“Doodlebug, the email is sent,” she chimed.

“Doodlebug?” Clint asked.

“Shut it, Barton. I’ll gorilla glue all of the vent covers on.”

“Fine…”

“Sweetie, really, what’s going on?”

“Gran, I can’t discuss it over the phone. But…I may be coming to visit…”

“Of course, darling, let me know. This big old farm house could use some life. You tell me and I’ll air out your room.”

“Two rooms, Gran.”

“Oh, well then. I guess I’ll be meeting you soon, Mr. Barton. Bye, Doodlebug!”

Darcy face-palmed as the connection broke. “Oh, so…I thought…wait, Darce, you like the Cap, tho…”

“Gran doesn’t know that. Only…wait, I only told…fucking vents, Barton! You can’t tell anyone.”

Clint just smiled with a sneaky glint in his eye. “Fine, I’ll keep your secret, if you let me in on what you’re doing up here, and not down there holding his hand.”

Darcy took a deep breath. Usually, it was difficult for her to put her thoughts into words, at least in a linear form for most people to understand, but this one made perfect sense.

“Look, I lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania until I went to college, and we lived adjacent to the Amish community, where my mother, and her mother, are descended from. My Gran fell in love with ‘an English’ as they called him, and while she had to leave the community, she stayed close. Her family would have been shunned if the church elders knew they kept in contact with her. But…we still see our family, visit from time to time, you know? And they all cook and bake completely organic. No pesticides, no chemicals, nothing. Everything is perfect and fresh and all that. So…I figured I’d start with something simple…”

As Darcy opened her email on her phone, two science students from Bronx Science high school walked into the kitchen.

“Um, that weird voice thing said you needed us?” the boy said. He stood there with a young girl, both were two of the brightest that the specialized school had to offer to Stark Industries for a summer internship.

“Yes, I need you two…”

“Darcy,” Clint broke in, “send me the list. I’ll take the kids to a local organic place. I think there’s one of those chains not too far away. I’ll try and get other stuff. You go down and tell Bruce your idea. I’ll text when I’m on my way back.”

And so they went their separate ways, Darcy to the dispensary floor and Clint to the parking garage with the interns, giving them enough information so they knew what they were doing, but not why. They accepted “top secret Avengers stuff” as an excuse, especially Felicia who stared up dreamily at Clint from the passenger seat of the Stark SUV he was driving. Benji sat back and huffed. He’d been trying to date Felicia since they started working together, but to no avail.

Darcy emerged onto the medical floor and went straight to Steve’s room. He was sitting up, sipping water from a cup and straw, but he still looked pale, drawn and sad. Darcy knocked on the glass and got a weak smile from the man. Bruce looked at her and cocked his head to the side when she waved him out.

“Darcy, what’s wrong?” he asked. He also knew about the crush, but from guessing his thoughts to Jane in private, so seeing the smile on her face concerned him.

“I got it. He can’t eat like modern food, right? Well, we can do organic stuff, right? My gran has the best biscuit recipe in the world. Clint is out getting ingredients and I’m going to bake up a batch. If he does well, I mean, if he stomachs them, that’s good, right?”

“Well, yes, but it’s not that simple. Even the local organic foods can be contaminated with chemicals, so, it might be a long road ahead for Steve. And because his metabolism is four times the average person, he needs something fast. We’ve got IV nutrition going to him, but that’s not enough.”

“Don’t worry, it’s all cool beans. I got this one.”

“Darcy, just…”

“What?” she asked, almost shocked that Bruce didn’t look as hopeful as she did. Usually Bruce trusted her judgment. Did he honestly think Captain America wouldn’t live through this?

“Just don’t be surprised…”

“Bruce, he lived for 70 years in ice. He can wait a little longer for my gran’s biscuits.”

She turned sharply, ending the conversation emphatically. She was almost fuming as she traveled up to the common floor, mumbling about science people who didn’t know squat about cooking.

Darcy got back to the kitchen just as Clint returned with the students. She took a big breath. “OK, you two, you want to help the Avengers?” she asked, with the lilt in her voice she usually uses when she’s trying to convince Jane to get some sleep.

“Oh wow, yes!” Felicia said, turning her big brown eyes on Clint. “Are you going to stay, Mr. Barton?” She asked. Darcy turned away, trying not to laugh.

“Um, I can stick around, sure.” Clint had seen how Benji had been looking at Felicia, and said, “Ben, you sticking around too?”

“Kay…Thanks.”

*-*-*-*

For the next hour, Darcy taught Felicia, Benji and Clint how to make her gran’s biscuits. When she’d stashed the first batch in the oven to bake, she saw Felicia staring at Clint again, who was playing Angry Birds on his phone. With Clint not paying attention, Darcy thought it was the perfect time for Benji to get to know Felicia, and Darcy tried to get his attention, but Benji was scowling at Clint. So, Darcy did what any normal person would do. She took a pinch of flour and threw it at Benji’s face.

To say the boy was surprised didn’t really describe it. His face went blank, and against his dark brown skin was a small dollop of white powder.

“OK, that’s it, no food fight. Students, go home,” Clint said. “JARVIS, please get a driver to take Benji and Felicia home, please. Ben, make sure Miss Wong gets home safe, OK?”

The two students started to pout, but Clint winked at Benji, and Benji started to smile. “Yeah, Felicia, I’ll take you home, don’t worry.”

They left just as the oven timer dinged and Darcy turned to look in the window at her biscuits.

”They’re perfect!” She took them out then let them sit a few moments on the counter top. The smell wafted to Clint and he closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

“That smells awesome,” he moaned. “Can I have one?” he asked, reaching out to snatch one away. The crack from the wooden spoon across the back of his hand was loud in the room.

“No! Those are for Steve! But I’ll make more. You just can’t have these.”

Darcy plated them and the two went down to the dispensary. Bruce admitted Darcy and looked down at the plate. Tony was sitting in the corner sideways in the chair, legs over one of the arms, playing on his phone.

“Hey, Tiny, you sharing those?” He didn’t even look up.

“Nope, they’re for Steve.”

The namesake opened his eyes and said, “Hey.”

“Hey. Heard you weren’t feeling well, so I whipped up some biscuits for you.”

“You baked these for me?” He smiled easily, but his face was still pale, pasty and wan. There were three bags hanging on an IV pole, feeding fluid into his body.

“Yep, it’s my gran’s recipe, and all the ingredients are guaranteed organic. I read all the labels.”

“Well, they do smell good.” Steve gave her a weak smile, but took one of the biscuits she held out to him. He took a bite and chewed a bit, but in his weakened state, he couldn’t hide the gag reflex, and ended up spitting it all out onto the floor. Darcy’s face fell, as did Bruce’s.

“I’m sorry, Darce, I don’t…it…” He stopped talking and coughed a bit more.

“There’s chemicals in the water,” Tony said. “We treat our water now.”

“They treated the water then, Tony, but not as heavily,” Bruce interjected. “I’m just going to keep treating Steve as he is, and we’ll keep thinking.”

Darcy sighed heavily. In a very characteristic moment, Tony stood and patted Darcy’s shoulder. “He’s in the best hands, kiddo.” Tony pulled the chair up for Darcy to sit beside Steve as he calmed and tried to rest after his episode. Bruce injected more medicine into the IV and left them alone, closing the curtains to the observation windows.

When Steve was feeling a bit better, he and Darcy began talking, and eventually she pulled a deck of cards from the bedside table. All the Avengers were card sharks, Steve actually quite good at counting cards, but Darcy messed his world up when she taught him to play Bullshit. He didn’t swear casually, as he just didn’t see the need for it, the way everyone else let curses slip into daily conversation, but because it was part of the game, he was very happy to shout “Bullshit!” at the top of his voice.

When dinner was served, which was clear fluids, consume, and Jell-O, but Steve couldn’t take them. Bruce brought another round of meds and then kicked Darcy out for the night so Steve would sleep without fretting that she was uncomfortable in the chair all night.

“Darcy, get rest. I’ll be here tomorrow. And if Victor Von Doom decided to let more Doombots loose on the city, Johnny Storm can run to the rescue.”

“I like the way you think, Stevie. You rest, too.” Darcy brushed his hair from his forehead and kissed his cool brow. He smiled widely at her. In bed that night, she fretted about what to do about Steve.

She couldn’t sleep, once the lights were out, so she sat up and pulled out her laptop and began researching information on allergies and food alternatives and natural products. She tried to get more information on New York City’s water, but she came up against a wall there. While it was very pure and tasted like clear mountain stream water, there was no information on what was added to it.

She sent an email to Clint to make sure he went back to the store to get organic oats and bottled spring water in the morning. She wanted to try and make some breakfast for Steve the next day. When she finally felt her eyelids getting heavy, she left a message with JARVIS to wake her at six that morning and got a little rest.

*-*-*-*

Bright and early, Darcy was in the kitchen with her mixer out. She was pouring organic milk and bottled water in the bowl and letting the machine beat the pancake batter. She poured in the organic oats and flour, cracked an egg and a little sugar. She’d found this recipe a while ago and wanted to try it, hoping that using organic items and not just regular ingredients changed the taste. She tested the first pancake, halfing it with Clint and it seemed good.

Bringing the stack down to Steve was a gamble, but she had to try something. Tony was occupying the chair again, but more had been brought in overnight. Natasha sat with Coulson talking to Steve when Darcy fairly burst through the door, plate in hand, Clint bringing up the rear with butter and syrup for the meal.

“Oh, sorry, I…”

“No, Darcy, come in,” Steve said, trying to sit up further. Natasha was by his side, pulling him by the shoulders so he wouldn’t pull out his IVs.

“I made you oatmeal blueberry pancakes. I figured, it’s simple enough, and everything is certified organic on the packages. So, you wanna try?” she asked. The smile on her face reflected the optimistic feelings she harbored.

“Sure, of course. I like blueberries.”

A tray was placed before Steve by Coulson, and Darcy put the plate down. Clint put the butter and syrup on the tray, but it turned out, they didn’t even need it. Steve covered his mouth and began to cough, turning and pushing the tray away from him. Darcy’s hopeful face fell. Clint grabbed the tray and rolled it away.

“Darce, m’sorry,” he managed to choke out before lying back and trying to breathe.

“It’s OK, Steve, I know you’re sorry. Don’t worry about it.”

Bruce looked defeated. Darcy turned to the door and started out. But she turned back to Steve and said, “I’ll figure this out, Steve. I promise.”

She left the room, Clint following her closely.

“Now what, kid?” he asked, as the elevator ascended again.

“You up for a little late night espionage?” she asked.

The sneaky look in Darcy’s eyes would scare a lesser man, but Clint Barton just smiled back and said, “What did you have in mind?”

They laid out a plan, going to Steve’s suite to pack a bag for him to take a few days trip. As they were finishing up, Darcy looked up at the ceiling. “Hey, J-man, I need your help with this, OK? Can you sort of get the elevator for us and have a car ready and all that so we can get out to my gran’s place?”

“Miss Lewis, I can only hope you are planning on helping Captain Rogers.”

“JARVIS, you can’t hope, you’re AI. But I would never hurt Steve, OK?”

“I believe that you have the captain’s best interest in mind. But if sir asks me what happened, I must tell the truth.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less. But by that time, we’ll be out at my gran’s house and they can’t do anything about it.”

“Of course, Miss Lewis.”

Darcy spent the rest of the day sitting with Steve, talking with him, playing cards, wasting time until she would pretend to go to bed, and then start Operation Amish Appetite. It wasn’t that bad of a name, if Darcy said so herself!

The actual getting Steve out of his bed, into a chair and wheeled down to the garage went almost too smoothly, especially since Steve slept through it. Waiting right in front of the elevator, engine running, was the nicest SUV Darcy had ever seen. Clint wheeled Steve’s chair to the door, starting to grab the IV bags still attached to his arms and looked over at Darcy, who was running a hand over the lettering across the front: Range Rover.

“Hey, Doodlebug, you wanna help me with Sleeping Beauty over here?” he called quietly.

Darcy turned sharply at the use of her gran’s nickname for her. “Oh, yeah, sorry.”

With Darcy crawling into the truck through the other side and accepting Steve’s feet to pull him through the back seat and secure him with the seatbelts. How he slept through it, she had no idea. And must have asked out loud as she secured her own seatbelt in the passenger seat, because over the radio came JARVIS’ answer.

“Having access to the duty rosters, to the alert calls, and the medication dispensary, I had Captain Rogers dosed with a little heavier sleeping medication, made sure security and nurses were elsewhere and remotely directed this car to your location. The key to drive it is in the visor. There is a Stark Black Card for fuel and food in the glove compartment. I will be available to assist you along your route at any time.”

“JARVIS, I wish you were a person, so I could hug you!”

“Thank you, Miss Lewis.” And he went silent from there. Clint started the truck and started their trip from Manhattan, through New Jersey, and as the sun was coming up, they were just crossing the border into Pennsylvania.

“This is weird,” were the first words that Clint had said in hours.

“What’s weird?” Darcy asked, yawning and stretching, then turning back to check on Steve, who was still happily sleeping.

“This is the furthest and longest I’ve ever driven on open highway. I’m used to finding every back alley and dirt road to keep the heat off. But here we are, making great time, and we’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

“I should call my gran, so she’s ready for us.”

Darcy hit the contact on her phone and listened to the ringing sound. She could hear the old fashioned ringing phone of her gran’s house in her head, the big heavy black phone that sat on a table in the vestibule with a doily under it, a pad and pencil in the drawer of the table and a chair right beside it. The phone was a big deal in the house, once upon a time, but Gran preferred the Stark phone Darcy sent to her as a gift.

“Doodlebug! What’s wrong?” Gran asked, instantly worried.

“Um…We’re a couple of hours away from you, Gran. I have um…some coworkers with me. Can you make some biscuits? Maybe breakfast for us? And use the pump water, please?” she asked, tentatively worried she’d woken her grandmother.

“Well, of course I can. What’s wrong though, sweetie? I can hear it in your voice.”

“Can I tell you when we get there? I mean, it’s too much to explain on the phone without showing you.”

“Are you in trouble?” Gran asked, seriously. “I can hide you at Auntie Rachel’s house, if you need it. And as long as you follow the rules, you will be welcome.”

“No, Gran, it’s not like that. I just…I had an idea and if I’m wrong, well, it could be bad. But if I’m right…OK, look, we’re traveling pretty fast. We’re gonna stop for gas and be there in a couple of hours, OK?”

Clint looked over at Darcy, then started pulling right to get off at the next exit for a pit stop.

“Just be careful, sweetheart. You’re my girl.”

“Thanks, Gran.”

Darcy put her phone away and sighed.

“You two are close?” Clint asked.

“I’m the only granddaughter. Hannah had four boys, and those boys had three or four boys each. My mom and dad only had me. So, I was very close to Gran. She’s the best.”

They stopped and while Clint pumped gas, Darcy checked on Steve, who was dozing, but he opened his eyes long enough to look up at her.

“Where are we going?” he croaked on dry lips.

“My Gran’s house in Lancaster. She’s making breakfast.”

“Oh, food…”

“No, this is different. My grandmother’s food is all organic natural, no chemicals, nothing. The water is pumped from the well, it’s all Amish country. They farm by hand, no machines. Everything tastes very different, and to me, much better.”

The smile on Darcy’s face went from ear to ear, and it brought a smile to Steve’s face, no matter how weak.

“I trust you, Darce,” he said, before closing his eyes again and sighing deeply. The sleeping meds were wearing off, but he was still tired. Clint came back with some bottled water, which Darcy tried to get into Steve. Since it was purified, he was happy to have some. But there would be fresh apple juice and coffee and more at her Gran’s place.

“Hey, Lil Bit, you drive. I’ll watch Briar Rose back there, make sure he doesn’t seize.”

“Yeah.”

Darcy climbed into the driver’s seat and adjusted the mirrors before getting back on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Within the next hour, they were traveling through the surprisingly large and modern town of Lancaster. Clint watched the businesses and buildings go by as they drove through town into a small, lovely suburb, someplace he would have loved to grow up himself.

Darcy’s grandmother’s house looked like an older version of suburb homes, but Clint could tell that on this side of town, they would consider it a “modern” home. It was a Cape Cod, with steep roof to handle the massive quantities of snow they acquired in the winter, but it had an attached garage on the side and circular drive in front for visitors. Darcy had told her grandmother to leave the side garage door open so they could pull in, since they didn’t want the nosy neighbors seeing them dragging a skinny, weak man in the house.

In the garage, Darcy came around to the passenger side to help Clint carry Steve into the house, and into the large kitchen that still contained a large stone sink, wood floors and light-wood shaker cabinets. The refrigerator and stove were high-end stainless steel models with a matching microwave oven and dishwasher. Darcy’s grandmother was just like Clint thought she’d look, same height, steel-gray curly hair pulled up in a bun, glasses perched on her nose and dressed like she was going to work in the garden.

“You can take him up to the little boys’ room, Darcy, Mr. Clint. Then come down and get some breakfast for you all. I used all the Amish ingredients. Biscuits will be done in about ten minutes.”

“Thanks, Gran,” Darcy said, following Clint with Steve’s feet in her arms.

“I expect a hug when you’re back,” Hannah called after them.

“Yes, ma’am,” Clint answered, winking at Darcy.

“You dork.”

“At your service.”

Up the stairs, Darcy led Clint to a large blue bedroom with two double beds against one wall and two bureaus on the opposite wall. They installed Steve in the bed with two fresh IV bags hanging from picture nails that Darcy revealed under a landscape of farmland over the bed. There were built in bookshelves filled with books, toys and trophies of two very active boys, Darcy’s two younger uncles, now adults. Darcy told Clint there was another room like it, where her two older uncles had lived. But there was a special room that was all hers, still decorated for a little girl, and Darcy didn’t care. They looked in the door, at the white-painted furniture, canopy bed with eyelet ruffles on the spread and bed skirt. Her handmade Amish dollhouse was still in the corner, clean and ready to be played with. Her desk was still awaiting her to write a letter home to her mother and father when she would stay there during the summers.

“This is really nice. You grew up good, kiddo,” Clint said.

“I know. And I’m thankful every day I had that. Come on, Gran will want to give you that hug.”

And hug him she did. Hannah Mueller was surprisingly strong for a woman in her seventies. When she got her arms around Darcy, the bond between them was very evident as Clint thought he heard some sniffling. Pulling away, Hannah moved to the stove to put the basket of biscuits on the table, and asked, “Scrambled eggs are good?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Clint said.

“I’ll get the coffee,” Darcy said, going to the cabinet to get cups and saucers. She put a cup down for Hannah, one for herself and the rest of the pot in front of Clint. Hannah looked at Darcy, but Darcy just shrugged. “He’s safer that way.”

“Then he can wash it when he’s done, can’t he?” Hannah replied, going back to the eggs in the pan.

“He will wash all the dishes, ma’am, if you make more of this amazing stuff. Are her eggs like this, Lil Bit?” he asked.

“Her eggs are better, Doofus,” Darcy answered.

“I see; how long have you both been married?” Hannah asked.

Darcy and Clint laughed. “Gran, I love you. Nope, we’re just tight buds.”

“Oh, I see. Then it’s the young man upstairs I need to have the shovel talk with?” Hannah asked, smiling behind her sip of coffee.

“Gran! Come on! Now, keep an eye on the eggs. Should we get some bacon on?” Darcy asked no one in particular, as she was pulling the wax paper wrapped package of country Amish bacon. The iron skillet that Darcy pulled from the hook on the wall was blackened with decades of usage, handed down from Hannah’s mother.

“Gran, I can have this skillet in the will, right?” Darcy asked.

“As soon as it’s broken in properly, I’ll let you have it,” Hannah said, winking at her granddaughter.

When the trio finally sat to eat, to Darcy, it was more like coming home than she’d anticipated. The subtle flavors in the natural food were more evident than in their “preservative-laden” modern counterparts. Clint didn’t speak through the entire meal. He just ate and ate and ate. When he realized he’d cleaned his plate a third time, and both Hannah and Darcy were just watching him, he smiled embarrassedly.

“Sorry, this is just so good.”

“That’s ok, son, you can buy more groceries for me later.”

“I’m gonna go check on Steve,” Darcy said, getting up.

“I’ll make him a tray. Doodlebug, should someone know where you are?” Hannah asked. She was right, Darcy thought. If Steve got worse, she’d have to get help quickly.

“You’re right, Gran,” Darcy said, pulling out her phone. “I should call Natasha…”

“Shall I connect you, Miss Lewis?” came the cultured British voice of JARVIS through the phone speaker. Hannah and Darcy jumped a bit.

“What the hell was that, Darcy?” Hannah asked, hand over her rapid heartbeat.

“That’s JARVIS. Artificial Intelligence, runs the tower and all of Stark’s electronics. Trying to kill all humans subtly by scaring the hell out of them. Uh, JARVIS, lay my plan out to Natasha, please. Leave it to her how to handle everything.”

Darcy trusted Natasha to be rational, to understand why she decided to kidnap Steve, and how to keep Darcy from being shot for treason for said kidnapping of American Hero Captain America. Darcy made her way up to Steve’s room and found him dozing. He was flat on his back, arms over the covers and hands folded.

“I know you’re awake. You can stop playing now.” Darcy sat gently on the edge of the bed.

Brilliant blue eyes fluttered open, fanning Steve’s wan cheeks with those impossibly long blonde lashes. His eyes rested on her face, and a genuine smile followed. “Morning, I’m guessing. Wait…” Steve held a hand up and he took in a deep breath. Then, his whole face brightened up. “Is that bacon? And eggs? Oh, and coffee…I…Oh, that smells so good…”

“Really? It’s not making you sick? Not at all?” Darcy’s face brightened and she felt the sting of tears in her eyes that she tried to blink back. “Maybe we can get those IVs out of your arms and you can try some food?”

Darcy told Steve where he was currently and he asked about more about Darcy’s family history, which she wasn’t as reluctant to share as she thought she’d be. She explained how growing up in Amish country meant the best of both worlds, and she’d even spent a summer with her Auntie Rachel, being plain and working harder than she ever had in her life, up at 4AM to milk the cows and sewing a quilt by hand.

“No wonder you follow after Jane like you were a mother hen. You probably were mother to chicks and ducklings and lambs and things.”

“Well, let’s not get crazy. But I did my share of work and more, I think. Hey, I was ten. I didn’t know any better. But I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. I like the whole cars-electricity-phones-booze-and-internet thing.”

“I know.” Steve was laughing for the first time she’d seen in three days. And it could have possibly been longer. Hannah walked in holding a tray piled high with food and to see Steve take a deep breath and not start gagging was the beautiful thing on Earth to Darcy.

“I’m glad the patient is awake,” Hannah said, holding the tray, wary of putting it on the bed before Steve. “Well, I made scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh biscuits, orange juice and coffee. I left it black. I figured a big strong soldier like you wouldn’t need fancy stuff in his coffee after drinking the swill from rations in the middle of the European forests.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, um…”

“Hannah, please. Only one person can call me Gran. Which is nice, since Oma annoys me.”

“Hannah, really, thank you.”

The pile of food was truly impressive. He waited there, but Darcy could see all the trepidation in her grandmother’s face. But they could only go forward at this point.

“So, Steve, are you ready to try something?” Darcy asked. “I mean, this is the go moment, right?”

“Do or die? I guess so, Darce. And Hannah, thank you, really. I should have gone downstairs…”

“Nonsense! Now you take your time with this, tuck in and if you need anything else, you let me know.”

Hannah placed the tray on Steve’s lap, while Darcy helped him sit, and they both got a good look at exactly how much food Hannah had made for Steve. There had to be at least half a dozen scrambled eggs, a half-pound of bacon and a dozen biscuits. Steve filled a fork with eggs and then looked up. “Are you going to watch me eat?”

“Until we don’t see you upchuck, Slugger, you bet you bippy,” Clint said, leaning on the door frame, arms folded. The smirk on his face was comical, but the words were serious. This was probably the last chance they had to see if Steve could tolerate food.

The full fork went from plate to Steve’s mouth and each time Steve’s jaw closed around food, Darcy was internally cheering like a crazy person. “Hannah, this is amazing,” Steve said, eyes closed.

“I need to send everyone a video of this!” Darcy said, pulling her phone from her pocket. She took a few minutes of video, asking Steve what he was doing, and with a full mouth he said, “I’m eating, Darce,” and went back to chewing. Darcy forwarded the video to all of the Avengers, Jane, Pepper, Coulson and even Sitwell. She didn’t have Fury’s email address, but she was sure the file would make its way to him.

“Well, I guess we’ve solved the problem, then,” Hannah said, walking to the door.

“No, only half the problem,” Darcy said. “Yes, you’re eating. And tolerating the food. But…how do we get it to you on a regular basis?”

Hannah and Clint left Steve and Darcy alone. She told him more stories of growing up her summers in Philadelphia while he put away the truly impressive amount of food. After finishing the last of the orange juice, Steve sat back and said, “I have to go to the bathroom. You think I could take these IV’s out?”

“Um…why don’t you take them with you to the bathroom and take them out there. Gran keeps the first aid kit under the sink. Down the hall, to the right.”

Darcy waited in the bedroom while Steve was gone, settling the dishes on the tray to take it down to the kitchen. Steve walked back in, looking much fresher.

“I think I’d like to get a shower and dressed. You guys have my bag?”  
Clint walked in and dropped the duffle on the floor. He took the tray and left the room, silently.

“He was too quiet. That can’t be good,” Darcy said. “You shower, towels are in the closet behind the door in the bathroom, and we’ll be downstairs. Probably be in the back yard, through the kitchen back door.”

Darcy went down the stairs and smiled at Clint standing at the kitchen sink, filling the dishwasher with freshly-scraped dishes. Hannah was in the back yard, pulling down the laundry from the day before. Darcy went up to her and began pulling things down.

“Well, half the battle is won. Gran, thank you so much. You really solved the problem.”

“No, Doodlebug, you did. I just made the eggs. You were the one who knew where to find food that would be chemical-free.” Hannah hugged Darcy tightly.

Clint came out to where the women were standing and said, “Stark’s inbound. In the suit. He’s annoyed that you kept his system from telling on you, Darce.”

“Damn, I thought he’d like the pirate-nature of my scheme.”

“I’m sure he does. But JARVIS is as close to a father/son team as he could have.”

“Which one is he?” Darcy asked, truly wondering.

“Both,” Steve said, coming out of the house dressed, wearing fresh clothes, sporting wet hair and chewing a bite of apple. He had the bitten apple in one hand and a half-eaten pear in the other. “These are really delicious. Bigger than we had, but that’s just modern, right?”

Darcy walked over to Steve and stood before him, smiling up. “How are you feeling? Better?”

“I…I feel like I did in the Vita-ray, but no pain…and slower. Like my body is putting itself back together. I have a feeling I’m going to be eating a lot while I’m here.” He looked over at Hannah with an apologetic face. “Sorry, ma’am.”

“Steven, please help yourself. I wouldn’t want you to go back to what happened before. I honestly thought you were hours away from death.”

“I probably was, ma’am.”

“Oh, with the ma’am,” Hannah said, walking over and putting her arms around Steve and giving him a squeeze. “Besides, you three will take that nice big truck to the Amish market and load up on everything you need. I have a cooler and some ice packs in the garage. Get the juice and baked goods, and flour, especially the flour. Oh, and cornmeal. Just go crazy. And replace my stuff, as well.”

The roaring sound in the sky was far out of character for the quiet neighborhood, but was very familiar to Darcy, Steve and Clint. In the sky, the red and gold gleam quickly came closer until Tony Stark landed his armor in the backyard, away from the trees and the clothesline, and in his signature move, put his fist into the turf. The suit went to standing straight and Tony exited, wearing a rock t-shirt, jeans and his favorite worn in sneakers.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Lewis?!” Tony shouted, striding towards the group. Clint walked towards Darcy, intending to cut off Tony’s advancing form, but the wide smile broke across his face and he stopped in front of her, hands on his hips. “I would like to say I would have done the same thing, but I would have brought the mountain to Mohammed.”

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t afford to ship my gran and all the ingredients to the Tower.”

“Is this…Darcy, introduce me to the billionaire.” Hannah smoothed her hair back and pressed to make sure her bun would hold.

“Oh, I know who you are Hannah Mueller, you little minx, you! Broke tradition and left the family to marry a Jew! Your family was scandalized. I approve 100%, by the way. The scandal, really. I don’t care who you married. But why don’t you show me your awesome kitchen and all the delicious food that seems to have our esteemed Captain back on his feet and not puking like some wimp on a march.”

Tony patted Steve’s shoulder as he walked past, arm around Hannah’s shoulders, flirting outrageously.

“Oh, Thor help me, he’s going to spoil the hell out of her!” Darcy moaned. Clint pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the text he just received and said, “Speaking of, he’s inbound with the Quinjet about 15 out. They’ll land in the field behind the house.”

“My grandpa’s wheat? They’d better be careful! Grandpa loved that wheat.”

“Tony will pay for whatever they break.”

“Some things can’t be bought,” Darcy said, quietly. Steve turned to her, swallowing the last of his pear.

“Darcy, you saved my life. I can’t begin to thank you.”

“I couldn’t let anything happen to you. You’re…I mean, you’re a hero. You’re an Avenger. The world needs you.”

“And…um…I…”

Darcy’s sigh was exasperated, and slowly being drowned out by the sound of the Quinjet coming in for a landing. If anything was going to happen, Darcy was going to have to take matters into her own hands and just grabbed Steve’s face in both hands and pulled him down to kiss him. She didn’t care that Thor landed beside them, patiently waiting for them to end the kiss, or that Natasha, Bruce, Jane and Coulson had exited the Quinjet and were also waiting and watching them. All she cared about was that Steve’s arms came around her back, one hand twisting into her hair, and he’d just slipped her his tongue.

They pulled back, but didn’t separate from the hug. Darcy laid her head on his chest and listened to the steady thump of his heart, happy to feel the warmth radiating from his skin.

“I hope we’re not interrupting, Captain Rogers,” Coulson said.

“Nope.”

“You and Miss Lewis will need to debrief about your rogue escapades.”

“Sure.”

“Um, Agent Coulson,” began Jane, “we should go inside, I think.”

“Yes, leave the good Captain to his courting of Lady Darcy,” Thor suggested.

The back door opened and Tony leaned out to shout, “Get in here, losers, she’s cooking!”

The door slammed shut. When they were sure the door was shut, Steve smiled down at Darcy and said, “We should go with them.”

“Yeah, but you know, what does this mean?” She was hopeful he thought the same as she did, that it was the beginning of more.

“It means, we can…I guess…”

“I get it. You don’t do the talking, I will. Come on, she’s probably making French toast.”

“Oh, I love that!” Steve grabbed Darcy’s hand and pulled her into the kitchen. Everyone was in the kitchen, Bruce standing awkwardly waiting for Steve to come in to check him, Natasha lounging in the doorway, Clint making coffee at one counter and Tony was in the corner, on his phone, talking to Pepper, Darcy assumed. Coulson wasn’t to be seen.

“Darcy, sweetie, you all may have to go out for more supplies sooner than I thought. I can make some French toast for you all, but I don’t know what I’ll have for lunch,” Hannah said, beating the eggs in a bowl with a fork.

“OK, Gran. Where’s Son of Coul?” Darcy asked.

Clint pointed at the ceiling. He was upstairs, probably in the bathroom, but Darcy went up to check. She found him in the bedroom where Steve had rested, looking at the IV bags Steve had pulled from his arms. Coulson was placing them in plastic bags to seal.

“Can’t let Captain America’s DNA get into the general public,” he said, back still turned to her.

“Yeah, I didn’t think of that,” Darcy said, clasping her hands in front of her. Coulson turned, and he presented her with the most dangerous look she’d ever seen on anyone’s face, including Natasha.

“You didn’t think of anything! Did you wonder if perhaps the captain would have a seizure, or if he would go into cardiac arrest with his advanced state of malnutrition? Lewis, what you did could be construed as treason! I can have you executed!”

“No, you can’t, Phil,” said Natasha, standing in the doorway. “She saved his life, and you know it. You’re just annoyed that you didn’t do it.”

“Agent Romanov, we were having a private conversation,” Coulson bit out. But his face did soften.

“The door was open,” said Clint, entering the room and walking towards Coulson, trying to get between him and Darcy, without looking like he was.

“Barton, what were you thinking?” Coulson said, turning his rage on Natasha’s partner. Barton usually took the blame for things, because he was better at calming Coulson’s rage.

“I was thinking this guy was dying. And nothing you came up with sounded any better.”

“Really? And you don’t think I would have listened and helped? Brought products back to the medical facility so that Captain Rogers could have stayed under observation while we found something to feed him that didn’t upset his stomach.”

“You wouldn’t have listened to me!” Darcy shouted. “No one listens to me! I’m always just intern, the plucky sidekick. Well, this worked, Coulson. So just deal with it. When we get back to New York, I’ll clear my stuff out of the Tower and find something else."

”Whoa, who’s moving where?” said Tony, who walked in the room. He was still holding his phone, still doing work and making calculations. “Agent, are you throwing Darcy out of my Tower? Without consulting me? My, aren’t you pushy in your second life.”

“No, I’m volunteering. I’m probably going to be executed for treason, so it doesn’t matter, really.”

“Ok, that’s enough!” came the shout from the little woman who entered the room and quickly gathered Darcy into her arms. “If you think you’re going to execute my granddaughter for helping her boyfriend from dying, you’ve got another thing coming, Mr. Secret Agent. I have a shotgun and a shovel, and I’m pretty sure three of these boys can be bribed with cookies and brownies to bury the body in my wheat field. So you just think about that for a minute. You’re not leaving this house…you’re not leaving this room until you exonerate Darcy from any wrong doing or you’ll have hell to pay!” The room felt positively claustrophobic in the matter of a few seconds.

“How can Darcy have done something wrong when it was all my idea, Agent Coulson?” said the quiet voice of the man who entered the room and stood on the other side of Darcy from her grandmother. “I told Darcy about this earlier yesterday evening, when she was visiting me. I told her how to get me out, and I was complicit in the entire operation. So, she can’t have kidnapped me if I went along willingly.”

Darcy turned to Steve and smiled up at him, wide and warm. His blue eyes sparkled down on her. There was something there, she knew. She went out on a limb for Steve, and the team was sticking up for her. Coming together, like they did when everyone thought Coulson was dead.

“Actually, Phil, Steve is getting back to the same state he was in when he was first transformed,” Bruce stated, walking into the bedroom and also getting in between Darcy and Coulson. All the Avengers had stepped forward and stood together with Darcy and Hannah. Jane had come in quietly and put her hands on Darcy’s shoulders from behind, Thor standing behind her. And leave it to Tony to break the tension in the room.

“See, Agent! Shorty knows what’s up. She’s been with the Godgirlfriend long enough she knows science! Now, if you’re done yelling and threatening, I have to go make contacts and get baskets of food and barrels of water sent back to New York so the relic doesn’t toss his cookies anymore. Aaaaand…we’re good!”

Coulson physically deflated a bit, letting out a deep breath. His demeanor softened and he said, “Fine. Mrs. Mueller, thank you for helping take care of Captain Rogers. Stark, make sure the supply of food coming to the Tower is sufficient to feed the captain…” and on went Coulson directing orders as he walked out of the room, Natasha and Clint following him down the stairs to the Quinjet. He had a terminal in there to work from.

Hannah turned to Darcy and said, “You OK, Doodlebug?”

“Doodlebug?” Tony cried, hoping he had teasing fodder, but the kick to his ankle Hannah delivered quieted his laugh.

“I have more than one shell in that shotgun, Stark. I don’t care how rich you are.”

Tony shook his head and smiled. “I survive terrorists and living in a mountain cave for three months with shrapnel trying to kill me, connected to a car battery, blood poisoning, rode a nuke into another dimension and an Amish Grandmother is going to take me out.”

The team left the room, leaving just Darcy and Steve, Hannah shoving them all before her. She turned back and looked at Darcy, smiling, then closed the door behind her. Without missing a beat, Darcy threw herself into Steve’s arms and squeezed him tight.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

“I didn’t do anything…”

“You lied for me. And I…”

“I know. Hey, gotta protect my best girl, right?” Steve gave her his best half-smile, a playful glint in his eyes shone through the heavy air of the room.

“Am I your girl?” Darcy asked, knowing the answer in her own heart. But she needed to hear it from him.

“I want you to be. You wanna be?”

“Yes, very much.” She pulled his mouth down to hers again, those warm, moist lips against hers, not a dry patch or wrinkle to be felt. They stayed that way for longer than Darcy thought he would, but when she pulled back, she was greeted by his smile.

“We should go downstairs before they send someone up for us,” he mentioned.

“Yeah, if Tony calls me Doodlebug again, I’m going to put hot sauce in his coffee.”

“No, he’d like that…”

“Probably.”

*-*-*-*

After going through various markets and speaking with different farmers and co-ops and wholesalers, Tony and Darcy made plans for food and water to be delivered to the Tower for the teams meals. Also, several of the Amish young people who were in New York on Rumspringa before deciding whether to join the Amish church would help out in keeping up the supplies and cooking for the team and the main Avengers family. Darcy introduced Steve to her Amish relatives at the gate of their farm, but they had no idea who he was other than a “nice English” and someone who was interested in their relative.

Once back in New York, Darcy slowly began mixing a little local water with Steve’s Amish water, and mixing other food with the Amish food, sort of tempering him with modern made things. There were even meals where the dinner she cooked solely for Steve was completely modern food, but she was reluctant to tell him right away. She also would try and divert Steve when walking around the Tower to go past the cafeteria, but distracted him with conversation, some whacky antics, her phone, anything so that he wasn’t aware they were near modern food. And slowly while going for walks outside, or going on errands, Steve wasn’t aware that Darcy would change their route so they weren’t totally avoiding restaurants on streets, which in certain areas it was near to impossible.

She decided to tell the family of superheroes at dinner, that all the dishes she served that night were all purchased at local chain supermarkets. It didn’t quite break through the conversation right away, until Bruce stopped eating the meat-laden lasagna that Darcy mentioned she made with things she got at the supermarket on the east side. Slowly, the table of people stopped eating and looked at Steve, who was chewing and looking down at his plate.

When he looked up, he quickly took his napkin from his lap to wipe his mouth and ask, “Did I do something?”

“It’s what you didn’t do, codger,” Tony said, smirking conspiratorially.

“Steve, you don’t feel sick in any way?” Bruce asked.

“Um, no…oh!” He looked quickly at Darcy and smiled. “You didn’t use the Amish stuff, right? This is all regular food.”

“Full of fillers, chemicals and additives, that’s right,” Clint added, taking a huge mouthful of pasta.

Everyone was amazed that something that had become such a desperate situation, almost killing Steve, had come close to being solved.

“Darcy, how did you know what to do?” asked Pepper, sipping at her wine.

“I just kinda thought that since Steve’s system could fight any infection, and it even fought intoxication, why was it not making him tolerate the food? So, I thought about the way we’re all vaccinated for diseases, flu shots and all. Give us a teeny bit that’s been diluted and we start building antibodies. Like when you’re cooking with eggs. You have to put a little of the hot liquid into the eggs to temper them before pouring them into the rest of the hot mixture. So, that’s what I did.”

“You’re really smart, Darcy,” Jane praised, smiling at her best friend.

“Yeah, well, it’s not easy when you’ve got the fate of an America hero in your hands.”

“I thought I was your boyfriend,” Steve said, turning to look at her sitting on his left. “You did this for Captain America, and not for me?” he asked, brow furrowed.

“Well, I…I did it for me, really. I just wanted you to be well, and it made me happy.”

Steve leaned over and pressed a kiss to Darcy’s cheek. “You make me happy.”

“OK, can we finish eating?” Tony interrupted. “All this emotion is ruining my appetite.”

“Just can’t stand to see people happy, can you, Stark?” Steve said, turning to his teammate with a frown.

“I believe that Tony is just attempting to remove any awkwardness from such a heartwarming show of affection, Steven,” Thor explained, unnecessarily. “But in his heart, he feels the way we all do, that we are pleased you are well and will continue to be an active member of our team. And we hope that you only become stronger.” Thor raised his glass of wine in a toast. “To our esteemed Captain, Steven, may he and Darcy be together as long as time allows.”

Darcy blushed, for the first time in a long time, as did Steve, but they raised their glasses and drank, and Darcy hoped Thor’s toast would come true. She wanted Steve to be healthy, she wanted to be with him, and it did make her happy. After a kiss, they went back to eating. In her head, Darcy began planning dessert.


End file.
